"I spent $300 on purchasing a heifer, what prompted me to purchase a cow is that I always buy milk daily and this is so costly for me since I do not have a continuous source of income. I depend on small-scale farming and poultry-keeping project which earns me a small income. I was not in a position to save some money to buy a dairy cow because of the recurrent household basic needs. When it reproduces in the next few months I will get enough milk for my family and sell the surplus to earn some income. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has enabled me to achieve my dream. The remaining amount of money I spent on food, clothes and household items."

"This time around when I received the money, I decided that I was going to use it on doing renovations to my house because it was almost collapsing. The renovations and labor cost me about KES 14,000. Thereafter I proceeded to spend the balance of KES 39,000 on buying myself two cows. This was my investment for the future and incase I ran into financial difficulty."

"I spent $350 on purchasing a dairy cow, This is because I used to buy milk daily and it was so costly for me. I was so happy because I knew I would cut the daily cost of buying milk, but unfortunately, the cow felt sick and died. I spent $100 on purchasing two goats, Goats reproduce twice per year and help whenever there is an emergency since they can be sold faster. I will sell the young ones to buy a dairy cow. The remaining amount of money I spent on purchasing food, clothes and household items. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our standard of living."

"I spent $290 on purchasing a dairy cow. This is because I used to buy milk daily and it was so costly for me. I depend majorly on small-scale farming at home, The income from this is so small and I was not able to save to purchase a dairy cow. I am so happy because Currently I have enough milk for my family and I have cut the daily cost of buying milk. The money that I would have used to buy milk I used in paying part of the school fees. I spend $200 on paying school fees for my two children in secondary school. They used to be sent home and this was affecting their performance ins school since they would miss some lessons. Currently, they are studying well without being sent home. This has given me peace of mind to do my daily activities at home without getting stressed up like before. The remaining amount of money I spent on food, clothes and household items that we were missing in that home. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standards,"

"I am jobless and a mother of five children. However, my husband does motorcycle taxis to support our family. Immediately after I received my recent transfer, I spent $10 on two hens to boost my poultry farming venture. Once I succeed in running a poultry farm, I will prioritize selling part of my fowls to begin raising livestock, goats, and cows. In addition, the success of that venture will be beneficial in helping me to raise some fees for my children. Furthermore, I spent $10 on paying school fees, because my children had some fees arrears equivalent to $10. I saved the rest hoping to top up and buy a goat next month."

"In the next one year and beyond, my plan is to add more livestock that I keep within my farm. Right now I have three dairy cows with two of them being those that I bought with GiveDirectly transfers. The livestock that I keep is a huge investment that will see me achieve most of my dreams quite easily. One of my long term goals is to purchase a piece of land with the livestock that I keep. Right now we live in a very small piece of land hardly an acre and getting enough money from my livestock keeping shall see me achieve this dream of buying a piece of land."

"In the coming year and beyond my focus shall be to improve my dairy keeping work. I plan to do this by not only planting more fodder but also improving the breed of my cows. I right now have one dairy cow that is of a lower breed and a small piece of land where I have planted fodder. In the next one year and beyond, I hope to have one extra cow and to have put more land under fodder and other animal feeds. This will greatly improve the living standards of my family and give me an opportunity to practice other forms of income generating activities. I have just one of my children with her two children who look up to me for daily needs and this will make it easier for me to achieve my goals going into the future."

"With the help of Givedirectly, I was able to purchase a female heifer. I paid the $140 that it cost me right away. Given that the cow will produce milk for sale and domestic use, it is a wise purchase. I run a hotel where i offer baked goods like scones and tea. I only pay my one employee $1 per day of labor and she only works on Mondays. Despite slow labor right now, I made $2. My spouse returned to college to pursue a degree in building and construction using an H.E.L.B loan, government education grant. Because of our shared financial difficulties, I made the decision to put aside money for the kids school expenses. There are four of us. The senior is a student at the university studying software engineering the second child is enrolled in secondary school, while the third and fourth are in primary school. The money from Givedirectly have completely improved our circumstances."

"I made the decision not to spend my first transfer as soon as I got it; instead, I would wait for my second transfer and add more money to it so I could buy my own land. We now have a large piece of land, but it belongs to my family, so no one can claim it as their own. I summed up all of my first transfer and subtracted $350 from my second transfer to buy the land. I spent $140 to buy a cow because I sold the one I had in 2012 and it had no calves. The remaining $40 I spent on purchasing cutlery and other equipment."

"I am a single mother who lives in her brother’s rental house. The moment I received my second transfer, I spent $300 on buying a cow for myself since I had none. In my life, I always desired to get myself a smartphone and I used $100 to buy myself that smart phone that really made me happy and smile every time I get to call and text people. The remaining amount of $130 I spent on food and getting my child a new clothes."